The world has forgotten everything and the foes have become friends, thanks to the novel coronavirus. There is a universal call to fight the epidemic that has brutally shaken the world.
The economy of world is shattered as millions of people have already been left out of job. The countries like America, Britain, and Europe are struggling to restart the economic activities after claiming for nationwide lockdown to fight the novel coronovirus.
United Nation had called for an immediate global ceasefire after the outbreak of a pandemic. Kashmir which is one of the worst affected by this epidemic is also seeing a surge in militant activities.
The security forces in last over three weeks have killed around 27 militants in various gunfights raging from north to south of the region. The army says the counter-insurgency operations in the hinterland have been intensified given to some recent infiltration bids on Line of Control and International Borders. It says the lowering of the guard at this point of time may provide ample opportunities for militants to assemble in the valley.
So the anti-militancy operations will continue to avoid their regrouping. With strict orders in place of adopting the social distancing, the security forces are taking the dead bodies of militants to bury in some unknown graves. It was decided after hundreds turned to the funeral of a militant in Sopore a few weeks back ignoring the grave health risks.
Refusing to deliver the dead bodies evoked criticism in some quarters but security forces refused to succumb and said the measures are taken to avoid community spread of covid19. So while there is a fight in Kashmir to defeat the Covid19, at the same time it is passing through a crucial phase with the surge in anti-militancy operations.
Given to this present trend, it is likely to see the situation amplifying not only on the hinterland however, on borders too. While the infiltration bids could be foiled and minimized with intensified guarding on borders, the tackling of homegrown militancy is a challenge ahead.
A robust understanding is the need of an hour. Leaving job to the security forces could only eliminate the militants; the ideology and belief would rather require a mechanism driven out of political and socioeconomic understanding.
